Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza has local property clout
Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza's post-elected life could be shaped in part by a series of real estate deals involving three downtown Napa commercial buildings and a vineyard north of the city limits.
Pedroza will no longer be a county supervisor in a few months, having chosen not to seek reelection. But in recent years, he has acquired interests in several properties, one previously owned by a former pro football quarterback, aided by several million dollars of loans from the local businessman George Altamura Sr.
While that may not make Pedroza a real estate mogul, it does make him a player.
Plus, there is the Vinedos deal he helped make in 2021 for his father-in-law. The Atlas Peak property is mentioned in an apparently ongoing federal probe that included an FBI visit to Pedroza's house and wiretapping of his cellphone, though for reasons that remain unclear .
Pedroza, in an interview, said he and his wife bought their first home while they were still in college and bought another with the help of their parents, all before he ran for public office.
"We believe in this community, where we were born and (have been) raising our family, and have since sold properties and purchased others as investments in our family's future," Pedroza said by email. "All of this is well known and part of the public record since I took office in 2012."
Joe Fischer, a director with Cushman & Wakefield, said some people involved with real estate want people to know they are prospective buyers and others simply prefer to keep a lower profile. Pedroza is apparently one of the latter.
"If he's talking to people about what he's doing, I'm not aware of that," said Fischer, who has worked in the Napa real estate market for decades. "He's not out there talking about acquiring properties."
For most Napa County supervisors, their biggest local real estate investment is a house.
Notable is the role played by Altamura. He loaned money to Pedroza – personally as well as to business entities the supervisor has an ownership stake in – for all but one of Pedroza's current holdings. Those loans, some of which have been paid off, total about $4.5 million.
The interest rate for some of the Altamura loans is 12%. These types of loans can be used when a buyer can't secure traditional financing or as a bridge loan when a buyer might want to move quickly on a deal.
Fischer said there's nothing unusual about Altamura loaning money.
"Everybody knows that George Altamura has been in the hard money loan business for a long time," he said.
The Altamuras themselves have long been prominent on the local development scene, owning dozens of properties over the years. For example, the family was involved in selling the Napa Town Center mall property to the developer Todd Zapolski in 2012.
Altamura is known for renovating the art deco Uptown Theatre in the city of Napa, reopening it in 2010 after years of work. He has since sold it.
Numerous calls to a number belonging to Altamura were unsuccessful in reaching him. Those included both calling his cellphone, which has no voicemail account, and leaving a message on his business phone.
Below is a summary of Pedroza's interests and properties, as stated on Pedroza's financial disclosure form – required by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for elected officials – as well as records from the Napa County Assessor's Office.
Monticello Road vineyard: The Pedrozas purchased a 10-acre property near Silverado Resort and Spa – which includes a 2.5-acre Cabernet vineyard – for $1.6 million in January of this year, according to county assessor records.
It appears the former owners of the property – The Lee Family Trust – loaned the Pedrozas an unspecified amount for the property at about the same time. Why the amount of the loan was not disclosed is not clear.
As the transaction occurred this year, it would not have to be disclosed on the 2023 FPPC financial interest form. It would, however, need to be on the 2024 document, which would be due after Pedroza leaves office in January 2025.
A member of the trust is the former NFL quarterback Bob Lee, who played for the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons in a career that spanned from 1968 to 1980. He and his wife Janice, the other member of the trust, live in San Francisco.
Office buildings
On his latest FPPC form, Pedroza lists gaining an ownership interest in the 1,760-square-foot office building near downtown Napa.
The building is smaller than many houses. It was no doubt built as a house, and Assessor records date it to 1910.
Assessor records show that the building was sold for $500,000 on Jan. 9, 2023, to 1200 Jefferson LLC, which lists Pedroza and Benjamin Martinez as managers. One of the members of the trust that sold the LLC the property was Paul Wagner, a famed wine writer who appears to be a former neighbor of the Pedrozas.
Altamura is listed on a separate Assessor document of lending the LLC $500,500. The FPPC form indicates the interest rate for that loan was at a 12% interest rate for a term of 12 years.
Recent real estate listings indicate it is for sale for $799,000 and can be used as either an office or home.
The two-story, 2,700 square-foot property was purchased by 1207 Coombs LLC in February 2023 for $896,500, according to Assessor records. As with the property at 1200 Jefferson St., Pedroza and Benjamin Martinez are listed as managers.
Pedroza's 2023 financial interest disclosure form indicates he also has an ownership interest. Assessor records indicate Altamura also loaned $895,000 to the LLC. The FPPC form indicates identical terms as with the Jefferson property: 12% for 12 years. In July of this year, a separate assessor document indicates Altamura loaned the LLC another $995,000. The interest rate was not disclosed for that loan.
The Coombs Street property, built as a home in 1900, is near Kohl's department store and a section of downtown Napa that has been mentioned in private-sector redevelopment plans. Several business tenants are listed on an outside sign.
This is a multi-unit, two-story office building just north of downtown. Assessor records show the building was purchased for $1.7 million in November 2022 by Alfredo and Brenda Pedroza as well as Leodegario Flores Martinez. The partnership later renamed itself Napa Valle LLC. It is unclear whether Leodegario Flores Martinez and Benjamin Martinez – Pedroza's partner in other ventures – are related.
Altamura is listed as providing a $1.1 million loan on the same day as the purchase of the property. This transaction, however, does not appear on Pedroza's 2022 financial interest form, as Redwood Credit Union took over the loan on Dec. 29, 2022. Only personal loans are required to be disclosed on the FPPC form, not ones from commercial institutions.
The building was built in 1980, according to Assessor records. A sign out front lists several tenants.
Residential property
Family home: For various reasons – including privacy and safety – the Register does not typically provide the addresses of high-profile individuals or elected officials. In keeping with this, this report is providing only the general area where a particular property is located.
Pedroza, his wife Brenda, and their three children live northeast of Napa city limits, a few blocks away from their previous address in the same neighborhood. Assessor records indicate the property was purchased in July 2023 for about $1.5 million. The property isn't mentioned on the supervisor's latest FPPC disclosure form, given primary residences don't need to be disclosed.
Assessor documents regarding the property indicate Altamura lent the Pedrozas $1 million. Whether this was for the purchase of the property itself or for some other purpose is unclear.
Vinedos is in a category of its own, given Pedroza says he is no longer an owner. But his father-in-law is an owner, Pedroza was involved in the 2021 purchase, and Altamura was involved at one point in the complicated financing.
The 405-acre property in the Atlas Peak region in southeastern Napa County has been the source of a tremendous amount of scrutiny through the years. The Register alone has written numerous stories on the topic since Beth Nelsen and others revealed in February 2022 that Pedroza was deeply connected to the May 2021 purchase of the property.
The Vinedos purchase led to a years-long, still-unresolved FPPC conflict-of-interest investigation of Pedroza. Plus, it plays some role in a Department of Justice investigation going on in Napa County, the target and purpose of which have yet to be announced.
To that end, the Register has compiled a history of the issue, which includes numerous facts not previously reported.
May 25, 2021: Three entities – Circle R Ranch LLC, Rocking R Ranch LLC, and Foss Valley Ranch LLC – sell the 405-acre property to Vinedos AP LLC for $2 million. Peter Read, one of the people listed in the December 2023 federal subpoena to Napa County, is listed as the manager for the sellers, according to Assessor records.
Despite the sale for $2 million, the Assessor's office kept the property tax rate based on its previous value: $4.2 million. Pedroza, for his part, has said the apparent low sale price is because more than half of the property – 220 acres – is under a conservation easement and cannot be developed.
County Clerk John Tuteur, who runs the Assessor division, acknowledged in a recent interview that the assessed value normally tracks with the sale price.
"We have the conservation easement impact, and there is a significant drop in value," he said. "We just didn't believe it reduced the value as much as the purchase price reflected."
Despite paying more than twice as much in property taxes as the sale price would normally require, Tuteur said his office has not received any request to reduce the official assessment.
"There's been no contact on that topic," he said.
On the same day of the sale, the sellers' loaned Vinedos AP LLC $1.7 million. Pedroza's 2021 FPPC financial disclosure form states that loan was at 3.5% for four years.
Sept. 14, 2021: Assessor documents show Vinedos AP LLC receives a $2.7 million loan from Poppy Bank. The interest rate is not stated, but the document states it is an adjustable-rate mortgage.
In FPPC forms, Pedroza disclosed that he did work for Poppy Bank in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, though the nature of the work isn't stated.
Nov. 1, 2021: Pedroza states in a FPPC form that he no longer has ownership interest in Vinedos AP LLC as of this date, which would presumably mean he has no responsibility for any of its outstanding loans. The form was filed on April 1, 2022, a number of months after his original involvement in the land deal was disclosed.
Jan. 28, 2022: Vinedos refinances the Circle R & Rocking R group loan. The new lender is Altamura, but the value of the loan has increased to $1.744 million. At this point, that loan and the one from Poppy Bank are more than $4.4 million.
Feb. 1, 2022: Though Poppy Bank loaned Vinedos about a million dollars more than Altamura, and though its loan predates Altamura's by more than four months, Poppy Bank files paperwork subordinating its loan. That means that Altamura would get paid first – via, for instance, a foreclosure sale – if Vinedos defaults on that loan, and Poppy Bank would get whatever funds are left.
The Napa Valley Register asked several economic experts about Poppy subordinating its loan. None agreed to address the specifics of the Vinedos-related loan, but they were able to speak in more general terms.
Robert Marquez, a UC Davis professor of finance, said that a bank might agree to subordinate a loan in cases of financial distress, when another loan makes repayment more likely. A bank might also do so if collateral is high, such as with valuable land, but development requires further funding. Vinedos had vineyard potential.
Aug. 10, 2022: American AgCredit loans Vinedos $3 million as a line of credit. About two weeks later, a separate document was filed indicating that the $1.744 million Altamura loan had been paid off.
Sept. 12, 2022: Vinedos pays off its $2.7 million loan, again using Poppy Bank. It appears likely the remaining funds from the American AgCredit loan were used to pay a portion of the Poppy Bank loan. However, approximately $1.5 million would remain due, and it is unclear where that money would have come from, as there is no additional loan document.
July 31, 2023: American AgCredit loans Vinedos AP LLC an additional $300,000.
Aug. 30, 2024: American AgCredit provides an additional $95,000 to Vinedos AP's line of credit. The document states its loan with Vinedos now has a balance of $3.340 million.
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